Dual-port positive level sensitive reset data retention latch

ABSTRACT

In an embodiment of the invention, a dual-port positive level sensitive reset data retention latch contains a clocked inverter and a dual-port latch. Data is clocked through the clocked inverter when clock signal CKT goes high, CLKZ goes low, reset control signal REN is high and retention control signal RET is low. The dual-port latch is configured to receive the output of the clocked inverter, a second data bit D 2 , the clock signals CKT and CLN, the retain control signals RET, the reset control signal REN and the control signals SS and SSN. The signals CKT, CLKZ, RET, REN, SS and SSN determine whether the output of the clocked inverter or the second data bit D 2  is latched in the dual-port latch. Control signal RET determines when data is stored in the dual-port latch during retention mode.

This application claims priority from Provisional Application No.61/865,423, filed Aug. 13, 2013.

BACKGROUND

Several trends presently exist in the semiconductor and electronicsindustry. Devices are continually being made smaller, faster andrequiring less power. One reason for these trends is that more personaldevices are being fabricated that are relatively small and portable,thereby relying on a battery as their primary supply. For example,cellular phones, personal computing devices, and personal sound systemsare devices that are in great demand in the consumer market. It is alsoimportant that data on these devices be retained even when no power issupplied to the electronic device. Non-volatile memory circuits andnon-volatile logic circuits are often used to meet these requirements.

Non-volatile logic implementation often requires updating sequentialelements, such as latches, from a source external to the sequentialelement, such as a non-volatile memory. When non-volatile logic circuitsare implemented to alloy the updating of sequential elements, it isdesired that the implementation of the non-volatile logic circuit doesnot significantly slow the operation of a sequential element.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a dual-port positive level sensitive resetdata retention latch according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a clocked inverter according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a dual-port latch according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a tri-state inverter. (Prior Art)

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a clocked inverter according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a tri-state inverter. (Prior Art)

FIG. 7 is a timing diagram showing signals SS, RET, REN, D1, CKT, QN andthe output of the latch Q according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a timing diagram showing signals RET, CKT, REN D2, SS, SX, QN,and Q according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a timing diagram showing signals RET, REN, D2, SS, SX, QN, andQ according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In an embodiment of the invention a dual-port positive level sensitivereset data retention latch 100 contains a clocked inverter 102, aninverter 110, a dual-port latch 108 and a logic circuit 112 used tocreate internal clocks CLKZ and CKT from an external clock CLK. Theclocked inverter 102 is configured to receive a first data bit D1, aretain control signal RET, a reset control signal REN and internal clocksignals CLKZ and CKT. The dual-port latch 108 is configured to receivethe output QN from the clocked inverter 102, data input D2, clocksignals CLKZ and CKT, the retain control signal RET, the reset controlsignal REN and control signals SS and SSN. The signals CKT, CLKZ, RET,REN, SS and SSN determine whether the output QN of the clocked inverter102 or the second data bit D2 is latched in the dual-port latch 108.

Non-volatile logic implementations often require updating sequentialelements (e.g. flip-flops and latches) from an external source (e.g.non-volatile memory). In an embodiment of the invention, the dual-portlatch includes 108 a second data input (port) D2. The second data inputD2 is used to insert data from an external source. A tri-state inverteris added to the dual-port latch 108 to accommodate the second datainput. This will be explained in more detail later in the specification.When external data needs to be inserted into the dual-port latch, thetri-state inverter is enabled.

The circuitry used to add the second input to the dual-port latch 108 isnot part of the critical timing path of the dual-port positive levelsensitive reset data retention latch 100. As a result, change to theregular performance of the dual-port positive level sensitive reset dataretention latch 100 is negligible.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a dual-port positive level sensitive resetdata retention latch 100 according to an embodiment of the invention. Ina functional (i.e. normal) mode of operation, the retention mode signalRET is held at a logical low level, the reset control signal REN is heldat a logical high level, the control signal SS is held at a logical lowlevel and the binary compliment signal SSN of the control signal SS isheld at a logical high level. Power is needed for functional modeoperation so power supply VDD1 and power supply VDD2 are applied to thedual-port positive level sensitive reset data retention latch 100.

FIG. 7 is a timing diagram showing data bit D1, clock signals CKT andCLKZ and the output Q of the dual-port positive level sensitive resetdata retention latch 100 during the functional mode of operation.Because the RET is held at a logical low level and REN is held at alogical high value, the binary logical compliment of D1 is passed to theoutput QN when clock signal CKT transitions from a low to high logicalvalue. FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a clocked inverter 102. QN isthen presented to an input of the dual-port latch 108 and the inverter110. The output of inverter 110 drives the signal Q.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a dual-port latch 108 according to anembodiment of the invention. The dual-port latch 108 includes a firsttri-state inverter 302 (see FIG. 4 for an embodiment of the firsttri-state inverter 302) with tri-state controls SS and SSN, a clockedinverter 304 (see FIG. 5 for an embodiment of the clocked inverter 304)with controls RET and REN and a second tri-state inverter 306 (see FIG.6 for an embodiment of the second tri-state inverter 306) with tri-statecontrols SS and SSN.

When the dual-port positive level sensitive reset data retention latch100 is operating in the functional mode and the clock signal CKT is at ahigh logic level (logic one), the tri-state inverter 302 is active anddrives node SX of the dual-port latch 108 to the complimentary logicalvalue of QN. When the clock signal CKT transitions from a high logicallevel to a low logical level, the logical level on the QN is latched bythe clocked inverter 304. In this embodiment of the invention, aninverter 110 is used to buffer QN. However, non-inverting buffers may beused as well. The tri-state inverter 306 is tri-stated in this modebecause SS is a logical low level and SSN is a logical high level. As aresult, D2 is not transferred to node SX.

However, during another functional mode of operation, data D2 may bewritten directly to the dual-port latch 108 (See FIG. 8). During thisfunctional mode, the clock signal CKT is held at a low logical level,CLKZ is held at a high logical level, control signal REN is held at alogical high level and control signal RET is held inactive (i.e. logiczero) with control signal SS held at a logical high level and controlsignal SSN held at logical low level.

When control signal SS is held at a logical high level and controlsignal SSN is held at logical low level, tri-state inverter 306 is ableto drive the complimentary value of D2 onto node SX of the dual-portlatch 108. Because CKT and RET are held at logical low levels and CLKZand REN are held at logical high level, the clocked inverter 304 isactive and drives node QN to the logical value of D2. The inverter 110then inverts the logical value on node QN to its compliment. In thisexample, the compliment of D2 is presented on node Q. Data signal D2must be held for the period t3 to insure that the correct value of D2 islatched. Also, control signal SS must remain at logical high value fortime t2 to insure that the correct value D2 is latched.

When control signal SS is driven from a logical high level to a logicallow level and SSN is driven from a logical low level to a logical highlevel, the tri-state inverter 306 is tri-stated and tri-state inverter302 becomes active latching the logical value on node QN of thedual-port latch 108.

The dual-port positive level sensitive latch 100 can also be operated toretain data (RET mode) in the dual-port latch 108 (power supply VDD2 isactive) when clocked inverter 102, logic circuit 112 and inverter 110are powered off (i.e. power supply VDD1 is inactivated). Because thedual-port positive level sensitive latch 100 is being operated in theRET mode, the retention mode signal RET is held at a logical high leveland the SS and SSN signals are at a logic 0 and logic 1 respectively.Because power is not supplied to clocked inverter 102, inverter 104, NORgate 106 and the inverter 110, QN is not actively driven by clockedinverter 102. In this manner, the data being retained in the dual-portlatch 108 will not be inadvertently corrupted by the indeterminateoutput value of the clocked inverter 102 (the input is indeterminate asthe supply VDD1 is inactive or floating). All other inputs are don'tcares.

During retention mode of operation, data D2 may be written directly tothe dual-port latch 108. During this retention mode, the control signalSS is driven to a logical high level following RET being driven to alogical high value (see FIG. 9). The clock signals CKT and CLKZ aredon't cares in this mode of operation in this embodiment. Before timet1, D2 does not have to be driven to a logical level (i.e. D2 may be alogical one, a logical zero, floating or tri-stated). D2 must be drivento a logical one or a logical zero some time t1 before the controlsignal SS transitions from a logical zero to a logical one. D2 must bestable for time t4 before the control signal SS transitions from alogical one to a logical zero and remain stable for time t3 afterwardsin order to ensure D2 will be correctly latched.

Because the control signal SS is driven to a logical high levelfollowing RET being driven to a logical high value, the tri-stateinverter 302 is tri-stated and does not drive node SX of the dual-portlatch 108. Because the control signal SS is driven to a logical high andcontrol signal SSN is driven to a logical low value, the tri-stateinverter 506 is active and drives node SX to the complimentary valuepresented on D2. Because RET is a logical high value, the clockedinverter 504 is active and drives node QN. When the control signal SSreturns to a logic low level and SSN returns to a logic high level, thevalue stored on node QN is latched between tri-state inverter 302 andclocked inverter 304 while tri-state inverter 306 is tri-stated. Datasignal D2 must be held for the period t3 to insure that the correctvalue of D2 is latched. Also, control signal SS must remain at logicalhigh value for time (t2+t4) to insure that the correct value D2 islatched. Under this condition, the data written from D2 remains latchedin the dual-port latch 108 during retention mode.

When an embodiment of the invention is asynchronously reset (i.e. thereset signal REN can be issued at any time irrespective of the logicalvalue of the clock signals CKT and CLKZ) during functional mode (i.e.RET remains a logical zero), the dual-port latch 108 shown in FIG. 1 maybe reset to a logical one on its output QN by driving REN to a logicalzero. The clocked inverter 102 will not “fight” QN being driven to alogical high value because the pull-down leg is disconnected fromground.

The foregoing description has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and othermodifications and variations may be possible in light of the aboveteachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to bestexplain the applicable principles and their practical application tothereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize variousembodiments and various modifications as are suited to the particularuse contemplated. It is intended that the appended claims be construedto include other alternative embodiments except insofar as limited bythe prior art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A dual-port positive level sensitive reset dataretention latch comprising: a clocked inverter configured to receive afirst data bit, a first clock signal, a second clock signal, a resetcontrol signal and a retention mode control signal (RET) wherein thefirst clock signal, the second clock signal, the reset control signaland the retention mode control signal determine whether a first dataoutput from the clocked inverter is the binary compliment of the firstdata bit or an indeterminate value; a dual-port latch configured toreceive the first data output of the clocked inverter, a second databit, the first clock signal, the second clock signal, the reset controlsignal, the retention mode control signal, a first latch control signaland a second latch control signal wherein the first clock signal, thesecond clock signal, the reset control signal, the retention modecontrol signal, the first latch control signal and the second latchcontrol signal determine whether the first data output of the clockedinverter or the second data bit is latched in the dual-port latch. 2.The dual-port positive level sensitive reset data retention latch ofclaim 1, further comprising a first inverter wherein the first inverterreceives the first data output and the first inverter outputs a seconddata output.
 3. The dual-port positive level sensitive reset dataretention latch of claim 2 wherein the clocked inverter and the firstinverter receive power from a first power supply; wherein the dual-portlatch receives power form a second power supply.
 4. The dual-portpositive level sensitive latch of claim 3 wherein the first power supplyis turned off and the second power supply is turned on during operationof a retention mode; wherein power is only supplied to the dual-portlatch.
 5. The dual-port positive level sensitive reset data retentionlatch of claim 1, further comprising a buffer wherein the bufferreceives the first data output and the buffer outputs the same logicalvalue of the first data output.
 6. The dual-port positive levelsensitive reset data retention latch of claim 1 wherein control signalsthe first clock signal, the second clock signal, the reset controlsignal and the retention mode control signal are controlled external tothe dual-port positive level sensitive reset data retention latch toprevent data contention between the first data output and the seconddata bit.
 7. The dual-port positive level sensitive reset data retentionlatch of claim 1 wherein the dual-port latch comprises: a firsttri-state inverter, the first tri-state inverter having a data input,two control inputs and a data output wherein the data input iselectrically connected the first data output, the first control input iselectrically connected to the first latch control signal, and the secondcontrol input is connected to the second latch control signal; a secondtri-state inverter, the second tri-state inverter having a data input,two control inputs and a data output wherein the data input iselectrically connected to the second data bit, the first control inputis electrically connected to the first latch control signal, and thesecond control input is connected to the second latch control signal andthe outputs of the first and second tri-state inverter are electricallyconnected to each other; a clocked inverter, the clocked inverter havinga data input, four control inputs and a data output wherein the datainput is electrically connected to the data output of the first andsecond tri-state inverters, a first control input is electricallyconnected to the first clock signal, a second control input is connectedto the second clock signal, a third control input is electricallyconnected to the retention mode control signal, a fourth control inputis electrically connected to the reset control signal and the output ofthe clocked inverter is electrically connected to the input of the firsttri-state inverter.
 8. A method of writing data into a dual-port latchof a dual-port positive level sensitive reset data retention latch inretention mode comprising; disconnecting a first power supply from aclocked inverter configured to receive a first data bit, a first clocksignal, a second clock signal CLKZ, a reset control signal and aretention mode control signal wherein, the first clock signal, thesecond clock signal, the reset control signal and the retention modecontrol signal determine whether a first data output from the clockedinverter is the binary compliment of the first data bit or anindeterminate value; connecting a second power supply to the dual-portlatch wherein the dual-port latch is configured to receive the firstdata output of the clocked inverter, a second data bit, the first clocksignal, the second clock signal, the retain control signal, the resetcontrol signal, a first latch control signal and a second latch controlsignal wherein signals the first clock signal, the second clock signal,the reset control signal, the retention mode control signal, the firstlatch control signal and the second latch control signal determinewhether the first data output of the clocked inverter or the second databit is latched in the dual-port latch; entering retention mode bydriving the retain control signal to a logical high value; driving thesecond data bit to a binary logical level; writing the second data bitinto the dual-port latch by driving the first latch control signal to alogical high value and driving the second latch control signal to alogical low value; latching the second data bit into the dual-port latchby driving the first latch control signal to a logical low value anddriving the second latch control signal to a logical high value;connecting the first power supply to the clocked inverter; exiting theretention mode and entering a functional mode by driving the retaincontrol signal to a logical low.
 9. A method of writing data to adual-port latch of a dual-port positive level sensitive reset dataretention latch while in a functional mode comprising; entering thefunctional mode by driving a retain control signal to a logical lowvalue and a reset control signal to a logical high value; tri-stating anoutput of a clocked inverter by driving a first clock signal to alogical low level and by driving a second clock signal to a logical highlevel; driving a data bit of the dual port latch to a binary logicallevel wherein the dual-port latch is configured to receive a data outputof the clocked inverter, the data bit, the first clock signal, thesecond signal, the retain control signal, the reset control signal, afirst latch control signal and a second latch control signal wherein thefirst clock signal, the second clock signal, the reset control signal,the retention mode control signal, the first latch control signal andthe second latch control signal determine whether the data output of theclocked inverter or the data bit is latched in the dual-port latch;writing the second data bit into the dual-port latch by driving thefirst latch control signal to a logical high value and driving thesecond latch control signal to a logical low value; latching the databit into the dual-port latch by driving the first latch control signalto a logical low value and driving the second latch control signal to alogical high value; allowing the first clock signal and the second clocksignal to toggle.